STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State hired James Franklin as its head football coach Saturday.

Franklin, 41, who led Vanderbilt to bowls in each of his three seasons at the helm, replaces Bill O'Brien, who left the Nittany Lions after two years to coach the Texans.

"Our program requires a very special kind of leader," Penn State president Rodney Erickson said. "We ran a careful and deliberate search process and I believe we've found the right person to lead our program."

Franklin, who attended football camp at Penn State as a youth and played at Division II East Stroudsburg (Pa.), will reportedly be paid $4.5 million per season as part of his six-year contract.

He took over a Vanderbilt program that went 2-10 each of the two seasons before he was hired. Franklin went 24-15 in his first three seasons as a head coach, matching Dan McGugin for the most wins in school history over a coach's first three years. But the allure of Penn State, and the opportunity for a homecoming of sorts, was too good to pass up.

"This is my dream job," he said.

Mizzou's top WR out after arrest

Missouri receiver Dorial Green-Beckham was arrested in southwest Missouri after an officer reportedly found about a pound of marijuana in the vehicle he was in with two men.

Green-Beckham, a sophomore who led No. 5 Missouri in receptions last season, and the other men were released without formal charges after their arrest late Friday, Springfield police said in a statement.

Green-Beckham was charged in October 2012 with marijuana possession after he and two teammates were reportedly smoking pot in a campus parking lot. All three pleaded guilty to second-degree trespassing.

UH hires Jeffery for coaching staff

Houston has hired Tony Jeffery as outside wide receivers coach, a person familiar with the situation said Saturday.

Jeffery, a former receiver at Klein Forest and Texas, replaces Brandon Middleton, who was not retained at the end of the season.